Despite entering the season with some high expectations, the Texas Longhorns are sitting at 3-2 entering Week 7. The preseason No. 1 team in the country has two losses to Ohio State and unranked Florida, and is on the verge of dropping out of the national spotlight entirely.
One of the biggest surprises so far is how poorly quarterback Arch Manning has played. Through five games, he has completed just 60 percent of his passes for 1,151 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
As a former five-star recruiting prospect, Manning entered as a potential first overall draft pick in 2026. It's still early in his career, but he is certainly not looking like the generational talent he was hyped up to be.
Let's take a look at if head coach Steve Sarkisian will bench Manning.
Will Arch Manning get benched?
At this time, it doesn't appear as though Sarkisian will bench Manning. He threw two interceptions against Florida last week, and remained in the game. He also threw picks against Ohio State, San Jose State and UTEP earlier this season.
It would likely take a truly disastrous performance from Manning—featuring multiple turnovers—for Sark to make a change such as drastic as that.
Not to mention, he has been pretty loyal to his quarterbacks in the past. In each of the last two years, Manning backed up Quinn Ewers, Ewers remained the full-time starter. He remained Texas' quarterback No. 1 although he dealt with several injuries that allowed Manning to start for two games last season.
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Who is Arch Manning's backup QB?
Texas' quarterback No. 2 is senior quarterback Matthew Caldwell. He's seen action in four games for the Longhorns this season, throwing seven passes for 75 yards with zero touchdowns or interceptions.
Caldwell, who is from Auburn, Ala., was unrated as a high school prospect per the 247Sports Composite. He started his career with Jacksonville State in 2021 before playing at Gardner-Webb in 2022 and 2023. Over two seasons with the Bulldogs, he appeared in 10 games, while throwing for 2,548 yards with 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He rushed for three scores, as well.
Last season, he played for Troy, and started in the Trojans' last five games. He completed a career-high 63.2 percent of his passes for 1,608 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He rushed for a career-high five touchdowns on the ground, too.
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Texas QB depth chart
Here's a look at the Longhorns' depth chart behind Manning. Behind Caldwell, Texas has true freshman Karle "KJ" Lacey Jr. He's a former 4-star recruiting prospect from the class of 2025, out of Saraland, Ala.
| QB | Player |
| No. 1 | Arch Manning |
| No. 2 | Matthew Caldwell |
| No. 3 | KJ Lacey |
| No. 4 | Trey Owens |
Behind Lacey is redshirt freshman Trey Owens, a 4-star signee from Sarkisian's class of 2024 out of Cypress, Texas. The Longhorns also have a preferred walk-on in Luke Dunham, as well as senior Joe Tatum, who has seen just one game snap.
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Steve Sarkisian on benching Arch Manning
Sarkisian has been asked about Manning's struggles before. It sounds like, for the most part, he's been hesitant to make a change under center. Earlier in the season, Sark was asked whether or not he considered putting him on the bench for a series after throwing a pick against UTEP.
"I think it was too early to say, 'Oh, give him a series (on the bench),'" Sarkisian said after the game. "He provides enough offense for us where I can go a different way using his legs and provide offense that way. Obviously, he scored two touchdowns with his legs today to take advantage of it, and had a nice two-minute drive there right at the end of the first half to score."
Even after the loss against Florida, which was by far one of Manning's worst games, Sark has continued to defend his quarterback.
“I found out he’s a tough dude. He fought his ass off Saturday, and those were not ideal conditions for a quarterback to perform under,” Sarkisian said. “Is there a couple throws I’m sure he’d love to have back? Of course. But, he stood in there, and he showed a lot of contact courage, taking hits, delivering the ball. There was some really impressive throws in there, and he battled until the very end.
“He learned a lot about himself, as much as we learned about him. This guy’s got a lot of courage. He’s got a lot of toughness. I think he gained a lot of respect from his teammates Saturday, which is a great thing. Does he need to play a little better? Sure. Do we need to play better around him? No question.”
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As you can tell, it sounds like the head coach is in no rush to make a change under center. We'll see if that continues as the Longhorns take on rival Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon.